You may be hearing “Happy Birthday” more often now that a federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that the copyright Warner/Chappell Music claimed to own in the lyrics of the song is invalid.  According to the opinion issued on September 22, 2015, “Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics, Defendants [Warner/Chappell], as Summy Co.’s purported successors-in-interest, do not own a valid copyright in the Happy Birthday lyrics.”

Unless the ruling is overturned or someone else comes forward with a valid ownership claim, third parties will no longer be required to pay licensing fees to use the song in movies, TV shows, greeting cards and the like…and Warner/Chappell will be out an estimated $2 million a year in royalties it collected from the song.

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